“You all spend a lot of time and money complying with the BSA,” Reynolds said. “You are, in a very real way, the eyes and the ears of federal law enforcement; you help protect the integrity of the financial industry.”

Reynolds said credit unions bring a lot of value to FinCEN’s work through their filings of suspicious activity reports, which the network uses to map illicit funding networks, find compromised financial institutions and protect the financial system. He said being a good steward of the BSA is a two-way partnership between the financial industry and FinCEN. “It’s a public-private partnership,” Reynolds said.

“Vibrant enforcement levels the playing field,” Reynolds said when all institutions effectively comply with BSA. “It is driving positive change in the industry.”